Alibre Cam

Who here uses Alibre Cam? How do you like it? I am debating between that and Sprutcam. I have Alibre Cad and really like it.

Also, I have a need for Lathe. I know Alibre Cam doesn't support that...any recommendations?

How does Alibre Cam do with nesting multiple parts?

Thanks
Steve

I bought it last Summer, then two weeks later I demoed OneCNC. I returned the Alibre CAM module for a full refund with the 30 day policy Alibre has. I love Alibre for CAD but the CAM is lacking. I do my CAD in Alibre then export the .stp file into OneCNC to run the tool paths. WAY easier CAM to use. Not hating not Alibre been using them for over 7yrs now, just not the CAM side.

Mark

How much did you have to give for the CNCone

The following is an example of Alibre support. Mark is from Alibre and David is myself. This happened after Alex Freeman told me my version of AlibreCam was out of date and that there was a newer version that would fix my problems of having to reselect machining regions and fixes the naming of regions to follow sketch names from Part tree into Mops.


This is yesterdays Copy of support chat:


Mark Mankiewicz: I would enter this in feedback.alibre.com and hopefully other people will vote on this as well. This greatly increases the chances of having the feature included.

David Merrill: I have invested alot of time and money to have these programs work together.

David Merrill: the reason I did not continue maintanence this year for AlibreCam is that there are no support personnel with machining experience at Alibre and Mecsoft has to support via delayed emails back and forth. I think there must not be much of a base or alibre would be concerned

David Merrill: Thanks. Rarely has support successfully supported these products for me. I just get tired and go away.
David Merrill: You will now report this as answered, some answer my problems are alive and well with no apparent interest from alibre

Mark Mankiewicz: I can look into the old cases but we support many CAM users with out issue.

Mark Mankiewicz: You have not really posed a question just talked about how AlibreCAM does not work the way you want it to. Do you have a question?

David Merrill: Goodbye PS that is not a feature it is an error. I have never had a Cam issue solved period.
David Merrill: NO THANKS. You gave me your answer
Mark Mankiewicz: Have a nice day I will close this case as answered

I was not pleased with the support but as i state there is no AlibreCam support directly from Alibre as they are not versed in the program and have to work with Mecsoft via email,wait for a response, then contact customer, then back to mecsoft or just close case as answered. If there was proper documentation with AlibreCam it would help. Just trying this or that to see if you can coerce a result from the program with out 30 minutes of incremental moves cutting air.
I sold Onecnc XR2 Advantage to buy this. That was a mistake in hindsite. Alibre Expert AlibreCam expert

David in Hillsborough

I've just started using Alibre CAM in its very cut down form under 'Expert'. Alibre Cad is great - been using it since V3. Had some issues with CAM and found support very good. There is a problem with the stability of the two packages if you try to alter the sequence of features within the design explorer - you get memory corruption. As long as you don't re-order feature sequence all is OK. I have a problem though and was hoping someone could help. We have a Condia mill with a GE FANUC series O-M controller. I have tried all the post processors for the Fanuc and cannot get quite the right code out. Has anyone got this controller on their machine tool, and if so any advice on the appropriate post processor?
Thanks

It's not difficult to customize a post in VM (AlibreCAM).
Using an existing post that is close, identify the areas where the code does not match the syntax your controller wants.
Alter that region in the post using the post processor editor, save your changes (as a new post) then post code to see the changes. Lather, rinse, repeat, until it's right.

I discovered some areas where I could not get the code streamlined like I would like but this is a limitation of the software itself, not the post processor. For instance, I would like to turn the coolant on in the same line that turns the spindle on, since the coolant has a tendency to drain back when it is off (despite the check valve I put in) which can delay coolant delivery. You don't have the option of modifying where in the sequence the coolant option you have selected in the MOP is enabled, you can only sppecify what codes are used for flood, mist, etc.

Nonetheless, I have a post for my non-mainstream control that works perfectly, that is to say I have not yet encountered a situation where the machine toolpath does not match the CAM toolpath, and the miscellaneous functions (M codes) work correctly as well.

Joe

Joe, Thanks very much for your help - much appreciated.
John

If you need help, send me a sample part file along with some code it has posted with markups showing what needs changed (and what post you used to create the "bad" NC code).

Rereading your original post, I wonder what you mean by "alter the sequence of features". I re-order MOPs within the CAM module without incident. In the AD modeler, however, features are frequently built upon previous features, and many cannot be moved around in the tree without invalidating constraints and associations. You will find that is no different than any other history based modeler.

Joe

Joe,

Thanks for the offer - I've managed to get code that I think will do fine - still waiting to get the file onto the machine and will take a rain check on things until I get feeback from the shop floor.

Regarding the altering sequence of features within the design explorer - I hear what you say regarding this being a standard limitation. I will just have to plan more carefully the sequence of features that I want to expose to the CAM module so I do not have to go back and re-order them.

Once again thanks.

John

I forked out $1k for Alibre CAM pro a few years back ($2k now), and if I had it to do again, no way. I went with this to give me 4 axis ability, but it won't even allow you to create a local coordinate system. Need the high dollar expert version for that.

If all you want to do is 2, 2.5, and 3d, its OK, but anything more, forget it. And as others have said, a relatively simple support issue took over 2 days to get a response. And then there is the licensing. You get 2 computers, and if you want to move it, you end up emailing back and forth. I had good experiences working with Mecsoft on that, but others had a hard time convincing Mecsoft they were not trying to scam a free seat. Thank goodness I now have a dongle for licensing.

I happily replaced this with Sprutcam when I bought my Tormach. For roughly the same money, I get up to 5 axis, and lathe as well. No comparison.

I admit I did like the Alibre CAD/CAM integration, but its just as easy to export from Alibre to Sprutcam with the add-in, or just iges it out....

Long story short, much better options out there.